Yosemite National Park will remain closed until at least Tuesday as officials continue to assess damage and clear debris following a damaging wind storm earlier this week.
Ferocious winds knocked down hundreds of trees and caused other damage to structures. Initial estimates had the park staying closed until at least Friday.
When the park reopens, visitors will be able to enter via Highway 140, Highway 120 from the west and Hetch Hetchy Rd. Areas south of Yosemite - including Badger Pass, Wawona, Mariposa Grove, South Entrance, and Wawona Rd. - will remain closed until further notice, according to an Instagram post Thursday.
Winds as strong as 80 miles per hour whipped through the park late Monday night into Tuesday morning.
"As the wind came through, it knocked down a lot of trees," Yosemite National Park’s Scott Gediman told KCBS Radio. "We’ve had private homes and government homes damaged. We’ve had trees come down across vehicles. So, we have extensive damage."
Fortunately, there were no injuries.
Gediman said the worst damage occurred in the Wawona area at the southern end of the park, where a massive cleanup operation is underway.
"Basically, our road crews on Highway 41, 120 and 140 are out there preparing the roads and clearing trees," he said. "It’s a huge operation and like I said, just talking to staff, there were literally hundreds of trees down throughout the park."
That includes tall ponderosa pines and sugar pines toppled by the winds.
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